American Businessman Donald Trump Takes On Wind Farms In Statement To Scottish Government

17/04/2012 15:03

PA

US tycoon Donald Trump has warned that wind farms could "completely end" tourism in Scotland and the country is "in effect committing financial suicide".

Mr Trump said he would not have built his golf course in the north east of Scotland if he had known about plans to install turbines off the coast there.

He also claimed there was "not a shred of evidence" that the devices benefit the environment, claiming their construction used "massive amounts of fossil fuels".

Mr Trump, a vocal opponent of wind farms, launched his latest attack in a submission to Holyrood's Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee.

He is due to appear before MSPs next week as the committee considers how achievable the Scottish government's renewable energy targets for 2020 are.

In his submission to MSPs, Mr Trump, chairman and chief executive officer of the Trump Organisation, argued that tourists will not travel to Scotland to "look at ugly turbines".

He said that when faced with "these industrial monstrosities" on the countryside and coastline, visitors will "hate it and go elsewhere".

The American businessman urged the committee to "recognise the serious situation and to advise the Scottish Government not to destroy Scotland with these horrendous, costly and highly inefficient industrial turbines".

Above: Trump testing out his under construction golf course in Aberdeenshire last month

He told them: "Your pristine countryside and coastlines will forever be destroyed and Scotland will go broke."

Mr Trump argued that a "wind farm landscape" would "completely end tourism in Scotland".

He claimed: "Scotland is, in effect, committing financial suicide."

Mr Trump has already spoken out about a proposed offshore wind farm near the luxury golf resort he is building in Aberdeenshire and has halted work on the development until a decision is made by the Scottish government.

He said that the course there - which has already been built - was "perhaps my greatest contribution to the sport of golf".

But Mr Trump said: "If I had known about the current wind turbine proposals, I would never have built in Scotland."

He went on to accuse the Scottish government of "giving with one hand and taking away with the other", and warned of the impact that could have on business in Scotland, claiming it "speaks to the world about a lack of trustworthiness and the inability to protect an investment from ongoing government interference".

Committee convener Murdo Fraser said that the issue of onshore wind farms had "dominated most of the 157 written submissions to the inquiry".

As part of their inquiry, MSPs on the committee are considering if the Scottish government's target of generating the equivalent of 100% of the country's electricity demand from renewable sources by 2020 is achievable.

But he said there were also "wider issues across the spectrum of renewable energy that need to be addressed".

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Pictures Of The Day: 17 April 2012

Abu Qatada smiles as he is re-arrested at his home in Wembley, West London. (Photo credit: London Media)